Finegold: 'One size fits all doesn't work'

BOSTON -- An Andover lawmaker has filed legislation that would lift the charter-school cap on the state's 30 lowest-performing school districts, including Lowell, Gardner, and Fitchburg, a move praised as creating more options for nontraditional education and criticized for taking state dollars away from the public system.

"If we're serious about giving kids a good education and serious about the Massachusetts dream, it's time to lift the cap on charter schools; the one size fits all approach doesn't work," state Sen. Barry Finegold said at a Statehouse lobby day attended by 700 charter-school students, staff, and parents.

The legislation, filed by Finegold, would exempt charter schools in the lowest 10 percent of performing districts from the state cap of 72 charter schools. It would allow more charter schools in higher-performing districts, as well as unlimited charter schools in low-performing districts.

"It's not a sky-is-the-limit cap; it's only in specific communities and districts," said Todd Sumner, principal of Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens.

Dominic Slowey, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Association, said the legislation would not cause an explosion of new schools.

"Even if we eliminated the caps, there is still an application process that any school has to go through, and it's one of the most difficult in the nation," he said in an interview at the event.

Slowey said the state education department receives about 12 applications each year, accepting two or three.

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In 2010, Stowey said the department received 40 applications after legislation expanded low-performing district funding caps for charter schools from 9 percent of district spending to 18 percent. Sixteen applications were accepted.

Supporters of charter schools point to the schools' longer school days, more tutoring opportunities, and personalized curriculum.

"It's helped motivate (my daughter) to be successful," Amanda Caprigno, whose daughter is in fifth grade at Lowell Community Charter Public School, said in an interview. "They teach my child as my child, and not as the masses, so every child is motivated to learn."

Opponents criticize charter schools for drawing state money away from the public system and say the schools use a flawed lottery system to pre-select high-achieving students.

"Charter schools puts the for-profit aspect into public education and misaligns priorities to where the money is," Paul Georges, president of United Teachers of Lowell, said in a phone interview.

Charter schools, created with the state's 1993 Education Reform Act, are funded with a combination of state and private money. They are public schools regulated by the board of education, but can create their own curriculum and teaching methods.

The demand for charter schools varies regionally. According to education department, the statewide wait list for charter schools is more than 53,000, half of which is for Boston charter schools.

However, this list does not count individual applicants, and includes duplicates for families who apply to multiple charter schools. Slowey said duplicates are less common in suburban areas, such as North Central Massachusetts, where there are only one or two area charter schools.

The North Central Charter Essential School in Fitchburg serves 390 students in seventh grade through 12th grade, with 51 students on the wait list for eighth grade and up. But it is still filling 30 of 75 spots for this fall's seventh grade class.

Kathy Egmont, head of Lowell Community Charter Public School, which serves 640 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, said the school's wait list has between 200 and 300 students each year. This year the school received 200 applications for 80 spots.

Egmont said the school views itself as partner with the 13,879-student Lowell Public Schools.

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